Follow Me!

Zucchini Bread

Got lots of zucchini? Bake up a loaf of this classic zucchini bread! It’s easy to make, with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice.

It never fails- every year we end up with a bumper crop of zucchini! They’re just so easy to grow where we live, they thrive. Everyone in our town has too much zucchini and they’re all trying to give it away to each other!

Of course, there’s lots you can do with them. We enjoy them in all sorts of savory preparations, and we love this zucchini cake and these chocolate zucchini muffins. But the best way to enjoy zucchini is in the form of zucchini bread. It’s a total classic!

WHAT DOES ZUCCHINI BREAD TASTE LIKE?

Usually, zucchini bread is a slightly sweet quick bread (similar to a muffin), with a hint of cinnamon. It’s often punctuated with tender bits of walnut, like you see here in this recipe. The zucchini itself is so mild, you don’t even really taste it at all. But the little green flecks are very distinctive and pretty, don’t you think?

I’ve stuck to tradition here with this simple zucchini bread recipe. It’s got the cinnamon, and it’s got the walnuts, and it’s moist and tender, with just the right amount of sweetness.

But you can totally get creative! Try omitting the cinnamon, and adding the zest and juice of a lemon, for a lemon zucchini bread! Or, throw in a bag of mini chocolate chips! Or sub out the walnuts and add a few handfuls of coconut instead! You can even use yellow squash in place of the zucchini, if yellow squash is your bumper crop. The options are limitless.

IS ZUCCHINI BREAD HEALTHY?

Well, I guess that depends on what your definition of “healthy” is! There are so many different ways of eating these days.

This recipe does contain sugar and carbs, but they’re balanced by a decent amount of green vegetable! It’s a great way to sneak some healthier veggies into your family’s bellies.

If you want to make it even more healthy, you can sub out 1/4 cup of the butter for applesauce, in equal measure. That will make it lower in fat. You can also use a fat-free Greek yogurt.

For a gluten-free zucchini bread, just use a good quality gluten-free flour blend that subs cup-for-cup for regular all-purpose flour. Here are a few that I would recommend:

And if you are looking for a vegan zucchini bread, you can use any kind of plant-based milk (such as oat milk, nut milk, or soy milk) in place of the Greek yogurt. For the eggs, just place 2 tablespoons of ground chia or flax seeds in a small bowl with about 1/4 cup of water. Allow the mixture to sit for about 5 minutes and gel, and add that in place of the eggs. Coconut oil would make an excellent substitution for the butter.

HOW TO MAKE ZUCCHINI BREAD MOIST

This zucchini bread bakes up nice and moist! The ratio of all the different ingredients guarantees that, but the addition of shredded zucchini makes it even more so.

Zucchini naturally has a lot of moisture in it. Sometimes it can actually be too much! I like to put the grated zucchini into a colander or strainer after it comes out of the food processor, just so some of the extra liquid can drain away. If yours seems very wet, you can even squeeze it out a little bit with your hands, before folding it into the batter.

HOW TO STORE ZUCCHINI BREAD

This zucchini bread recipe should keep for at least 2 or 3 days at room temperature. You just want to wrap it tightly or keep it in an airtight container, so it doesn’t get stale.

If your zucchini bread is still hanging around after 3 days, you might want to refrigerate it. It should last in the fridge for at least a week, if not a few days longer.

You can also freeze zucchini bread! With all the extra zucchini at this time of year, that might actually be the best option. Bake up as many loaves as you can, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or foil, and slip them into a zip-top bag before stashing them away in the freezer.

Thaw at room temperature and enjoy a little taste of summer all year ’round!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and mist a 5-cup loaf pan* with non-stick spray.

Place the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Place the melted butter, Greek yogurt, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a smaller container and whisk to combine.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry, and fold together until only a few streaks of flour remain.

Fold in the shredded zucchini, and transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the thickest part of the bread comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

This zucchini bread can also be baked as muffins. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 10 to 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of a muffin comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

20 comments

I plan to make this. I like the idea of lemon zest. I guess you could also use orange or lime! Lime might be pretty different with white chocolate chips. Orange would be good with dark chocolate chips. I don’t think it likely matters much where you live. I think zucchini will grow anywhere! It’s almost like a noxious weed. Thanks for the good ideas!

can this be made gluten free and sugar free – I use almond and coconut flour but not sure if it would work also I use Swerve as I am diabetic

Hey Emily! Check out the section of the post titled “Is Zucchini Bread Healthy.” There’s info there for how to make a gluten-free version. As for making it sugar free, as long as your replacement product subs 1:1 it should work fine. Hope that’s helpful!

I can’t see that post I only see 16 of them but nothing on is Zucchini Bread Healthy —Unless I’m Blind 🙂

It’s the second section down, right below “What does Zucchini Bread Taste Like.”

Allie, you have done it again! I have made this bread twice now and it is simply divine! I have taken it to a gathering as a hostess gift, of course it was well received and raved about. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙂